some PREVIOUS MEETINGS

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October 2018Why did Catholic Missionaries label Indigenous people? Why does it matter? Dr. Timothy Foran made a return visit to North Grenville to talk to us about this engaging topic. This presentation was based on his recently published book, Defining Métis; Catholic Missionaries and The Idea of Civilization in Northwestern Saskatchewan 1845-1898. Once again, Dr. Foran's visit proved to be quite memorable and brought about much lively discussion.​

September 2018When the cornerstone was laid in 1907 for the New Anglican Parish Hall with Full Masonic honours, the world was a different place. Ron Gould unpacked the time capsule enclosed in the cornerstone, explored its message and how it related to the daily lives of those who left it for us. Special thanks to the Masonic Lodge for providing the space for the larger than usual crowds at this presentation.

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November 2017Brandy Lockhart gave a stimulating and clear presentation on this subject to a capacity crowd. She is member of the Parks Canada Underwater Archaeology Team. Born in Saskatchewan, she has lived most of her life in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. In 2004 she completed a Bachelor of Science from McGill University with a double major in Biology and Anthropology. This was followed by a Masters in Maritime Archaeology from Flinders University in South Australia in 2006. After completing her Masters Brandy returned to Ottawa and began volunteering for the Parks Canada Underwater Archaeology Team and eventually worked as a term employee. At the end of the term she continued gaining experience as a terrestrial and underwater archaeologist with a private company and returned to Parks Canada in 2016.

Through her work and volunteering Brandy has had the opportunity to participate in several interesting projects on archaeological sites such as the wrecks of the Hamilton and Scourge, the Red Bay National Historic Site of Canada and more recently the Franklin Project.

​13 September 2017What would make you decide to uproot your family, take the arduous journey across the Atlantic Ocean and start a new life in a strange land?Kay Rogers, local editor and co-author of At Home in Tay Valley, began her presentation by posing that question. What prompted people to leave their homes to start new lives in Eastern Ontario?Kay told us about the settlers’ first year, in 1816, the year of no summer, and how the Algonquin, the First Nations people who were here long before the settlers arrived, helped them survive in their new homeland. She painted a picture of the lives of the settlers at a time when there were work bees of all kinds and the fiddler was the focus of community gatherings, barn dances, fairs, and socials.

14 June 2017Just in time for the celebration of Canada's 150th Anniversary, the Canadian Museum of History is preparing to open a brand new exhibit hall, the Canadian History Hall. Dr. Tim Foran will give us a preview and talk about how the North Grenville Historical Society has been interacting with the national museum and how that relationship could evolve.

10 May 2017Garth Hampson, who was to speak to us about the recent commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge was forced to cancel at the last minute due to health problems. Another speaker jumped in to save the day and spoke about the significant and often overlooked role played by contingents from nations across the British Empire in the First World War, including Canada's armed forces.

​​12 April 2017The history of coinage and currency is the subject of our next public meeting. Concentrating on our least valuable coin, the penny, Ron Gould will tell us the chequered story of this overlooked coin that once was worth having in your pocket, but has now vanished without a trace. He will go on to talk about other coins and paper currency, including counterfeiting and other murky bywaters of Canada's monetary past.

8 March 2017​As part of our celebration of Canada's 150th anniversary year, the Society historian will examine the role played by the Irish in the events which culminated in the decision of four British North American provinces to unite as the Dominion of Canada. The crest shown below on the poster is the one created in 1869, with the arms of Ontario (formerly Canada West) in the top left, Quebec (or Canada East) top right, Nova Scotia lower left and New Brunswick lower right. The gold irish harp on a blue background, introduced in 1945, is the official coat of arms of the independent Irish Republic (Eire)--an anachronism in 1867, but an aspiration very much on the minds of the Fenians and many other Irish patriots at the time.

26 September 2016At its Archives in the Court House and former Town Hall, the North Grenville Historical Society provided a historical look at technology in North Grenville, featuring period costume, hands-on demonstrations, information panels, artefacts and more. This was our contribution to the many events organized as part of Doors Open North Grenville.

The focus of our presentation was Horton Row, who was born in Kemptville in 1831. Using only hand-tools, he made and patented improved spinning wheels, click reels and more in his home-workshop. Like many Eastern Ontario craftsmen and tradesmen, he devoted himself to manufacturing and business in winter and farming during summer.

If you enjoy history...

Here are some images from some of our past meetings. To see more images from previous meetings, Click on GALLERY.Below: clicking on an image will bring a larger version to view.

Firemen of all ages enjoyed the vintage fire truck.

Bill Kinnear, of the North Grenville Fire Department, shows off the restored fire truck to three volunteers from the Dandelion Festival.

This early 1900s wedding dress and boots were donated by the Weedmark family to the Archives.

NGHS board members welcome visitors to the Dandelion Festival display at the Archives; from left, President Bill Adams and board members Pam Gordon and Wendy Goddard.

Harold Tomkins, longtime member of the Society and former treasurer, and Dr. David Shanahan, Society Archivist, pore over a document from the Archives at the Dandelion Festival display.

Dr. David Shanahan will give two presentations marking the centenary of the 1916 Rising - one on March 9th, 2016 and the other on April 13th, 2016. Details have been provided by Dr. Shanahan. See below.

March 9th, 2016: The Irish QuestionIn 1912, it seemed that the Irish Question was on the point of being resolved. Home Rule seemed inevitable, and the wishes of the majority of Irish people were being fulfilled after many generations. But a decade later, Ireland was partitioned, and a new Free State had been established through most of the island, modelled on the Canadian Dominion. Those ten years had seen mutiny, insurrection, constitutional turmoil and all-out war. This first part of a two-part talk will cover the first part of the decade and examine why such an apparently hopeful scenario in 1912 was to lead to revolutionary changes in the very character of both Ireland itself and her place in the United Kingdom.​April 13th, 2016: A Terrible Beauty is Born: Easter 1916 and afterThe Easter Rising of 1916 came as a profound shock to almost everyone in Ireland and Britain, and was to completely change the position of the Irish, as they saw themselves. Constitutional ways were overthrown by physical force and within five years a new and independent Ireland was to face a civil war as the forces unleashed by the revolutionary decade tore the people apart. New beginnings were matched by tragic losses, and the politics of the new state would be fixed for generations.

12 November 2014The Friends of the Ferguson Forest Centre and the North Grenville Historical Society held a joint meeting, immediately following the Friends' Annual General Meeting. The speaker was Society Historian, Dr. David Shanahan, who has been researching the history of the founding of the Centre and the role G.Howard Ferguson played in its coming to Kemptville.

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24 May 2014In preparation for the publication of a book on the schools of South Gower, Kemptville and Oxford-on-Rideau, we held an open house and display during the Dandelion Festival at the Archives. The unexpected popularity of this event surprised us all. Many teachers and students came out to see what all the fuss was about and agreed to contribute their memories, photographs and school-related documents to the forthcoming book. ​This project was led by volunteer Doug MacDonald.

9 April 2014 In the mid 17th century, eight Jesuits were killed during the war between the Hurons and the Iroquois. The echoes of these deaths can still be heard in the difficult dialogue between First Nations and other Canadians today. Ottawa University historian Emma Anderson talked about these events and their legacy. Copies of her recent book The Death and Afterlife of the North American Martyrs, which had an important influence on the recent “Canada Reads” winning novel, The Orenda, were sold at the event.

In 2013 it was most gratifying to see a marked increase in the number of new members who joined the North Grenville Historical Society. This increase impacted significantly on attendance at public meetings.

9 Jan 2013The year began with the Annual General Meeting on January 9, 2013, followed by the Annual Heritage Awards Night which was held on February 18, 2013 at the Branch Restaurant. Harold Tompkins received the 1812 Bicentennial Award at this event. The Holy Cross Historical Committee and St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Kemptville were recognized for publications on the history of their respective congregations. Owen Fitz’Gerald received a Heritage Award for the “work that he has done in establishing and maintaining Veteran’s Way, at the Ferguson Forest Centre”. The Heritage Committee Award was presented to Phil Gerrard, a member of the municipal staff, who, for many years, has spent much of his time “working to record and preserve the many heritage buildings in North Grenville”.

13 March 2013On March 13, Aleta Karstad and Dr. Fred Schueler, an artist/biologist team enlightened guests about the natural history of the region, focusing on the species that they have studied in detail: from the interbreeding of mussels after the Champlain Sea retreated around 8000 BC; the mystery of the monomorphic leadback Redbacks; the Buckthorn that took over Oxford-on Rideau fencerows in the 1980s; the disappearance of Chorus Frogs in the early 1990s, Zebra Mussels in the mid-1990s, and contemporary alien crayfish and Chinese Mystery snails.

10 April 2013On April 10, Dr. David Shanahan spoke about the history of First Nations in North Grenville pre-1784 and provided a report on the draft treaty agreement on the draft Algonquin Land Claims Transfer which may apply directly to some land on the north side of the Rideau River, just west of Burritt’s Rapids.

8 May 2013On May 8 Dr. Paul Thibaudeau, Intermesh Enterprises, gave a presentation entitled “Truck Stops and Mystery Houses; Archaeology in Eastern Ontario” which was about his recent excavations – a pre-contact site in Casselman and an historic site at Richmond.

25 May 2013On May 25 the Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, which included Dr. Paul Thibaudeau, and the North Grenville Historical Society jointly hosted The Archaeological Road Show/Show and Tell– our contribution to the Dandelion Festival. It has been estimated that at least 100 people from our community took time to examine the artifacts, documents and panels that were on display. On a lighter note, many of our guests (young and old alike) requested that they be photographed in the jail cell at the Courthouse and on the 1914 re-furbished Fire Engine, which Chief Paul Hutt of the North Grenville Fire Department had graciously loaned to the NGHS for that occasion.

This event was such a success that in addition to articles in the NG Times, the Road Show/Show and Tell was featured in the June Newsletter of the Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society and in a U.S. publication The Spinning Wheel Sleuth: a Newsletter about Spinning Wheels and Related Tools, July 2013, issue #81, pages 2-7. The article, entitled “Horton Row, Ontario Wheel Maker”, was written by Gordon Moat, who had appeared at the Road Show as Horton Row, and entertained those present with a demonstration of spinning on the NGHS great wheel which was made by Horton Row, an early craftsman and business man from Kemptville. (click on GALLERY to see more photographs of this event)

11 September 2013Public meetings were not held in June, July and August but they resumed on September 11, 2013 with a slide presentation entitled “Stewardship and the Diefenbunker”, by Brendan Goodfellow, Facilities and Digitization Coordinator, Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War Museum, Carp, Ontario and Ian MacLean, RPA, FMA, Consultant, integrated Heritage Management, Almonte, Ontario.

9 October 2013On October 9, Anne Raina read and discussed excerpts from Clara’s Rib: a True Story about a Young Girl Growing up in a Tuberculosis Hospital. That young girl, with whom Anne co-wrote this book, was Anne’s sister, Clara Raina Flannigan. Clara entered the Royal Ottawa Sanatorium in 1939 and was discharged for the final time in 1952 at age 26. Seven of the ten children in Anne’s family suffered from this disease. Her father and oldest and youngest brothers died from it.

During her presentation Anne also spoke about how she came to an understanding of the disease that had ravaged her family, and noted that it continues to be a world-wide pandemic and is on the rise in northern Canada.

13 November 2013On November 13, Lorraine Reoch, UE, who is on the executive of the Ontario East British Home Child Family organization, did a presentation entitled “From Scotland to Canada” which was based on a true story about four family members who were left orphans after the death of both parents within a two-week period. These children were eventually sent to Canada. Ms. Reoch discussed their experiences and that of other children who found themselves in similar situations. At the end of the evening, Lorraine stated that she was very impressed with the number of people who had attended the public meeting. She was also surprised that so many of the attendees were directly or indirectly related to British Home Children. There are plans to publish another book about Home Children and those attending our event were asked to submit stories about relevant experiences of their family members.

23 November 2013On November 23 the NGHS, in collaboration with the North Grenville Photography Club, hosted a wine and cheese reception at Geronimo’s coffee shop to launch an exhibition of photographs and documents showing the history of the one-room school house in North Grenville from the 1820s until 1965. Doug MacDonald (NGHS) and Larry Loke (NGPC) were instrumental in ensuring that this vernissage was a huge success. One of the sponsors of this event was the CIBC Kemptville Branch, and Amanda Guerin, Branch manager, attended the launch with her family. The exhibit remained on display until December 27, 2013 and comments received by Heather Childs from patrons of Geronimo’s were very positive.